Lawmaker Introduces Bill to Guard Federal Networks From Attacks From China, Russia

A U.S. House lawmaker has introduced a new bill aimed at preventing adversaries such as China and Russia from attacking networks within the federal government.
“Simultaneously, our adversaries have been targeting our hardware and software systems by selling the US government counterfeit products through what are known as ‘grey market’ sellers. These products, although marketed as genuine hardware, allow our adversaries to gain access to US government systems, making it far easier to conduct subsequent cyber-attacks. This is unacceptable.”
The head of an agency may file a written notice with the director of the Office of Management and Budget to waive the restrictions for a covered product, according to the bill. The written notice would have to include information such as justification for the waiver, security mitigations that have been implemented, and a plan of action to avoid future waivers for similar purchases in the future.
“The world is at peak instability and danger. Simply put, we are at an inflection point, which means we must do everything in our power to protect our vulnerable systems from cyber-attack and intrusion from our adversaries,” Fallon said.